


A Bunch of Crazy Kids

by ImaginationReaper98



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-29 06:48:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12625494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaginationReaper98/pseuds/ImaginationReaper98
Summary: Eleven eats real waffles for the first time courtesy of Steve and the kids, but mostly Steve.





	1. Chapter 1

"Wait, hold on, did you just say _Eggos_?" Steve asked between mouthfuls of cookies. He knew Dustin was starting to suspect that he probably just came by for the snacks, but it wasn't his fault that the kid brought food with him every damn time.

"Yeah, Eggos."

"The kid likes that shit?"

Dustin chuckled lightly. "I think _obsessed_ is the right word for it."

Steve's brow furrowed, incredulous. "And you never thought of letting her have some real waffles?" 

"She never said she wanted real waffles." Dustin said with a shrug and Steve couldn't help but roll his eyes at him. 

"Eggos don't even taste that good, dipshit."

"El would beg to differ."

 _Unbelievable_. "That's just because she has nothing to compare it with." said Steve, shaking his head.

He's very much aware that the girl saved the whole town and every miserable soul in it and was eternally grateful for that, so the fact that he was suddenly so bothered that this kid had never tasted real waffles before was quite reasonable. 

"You know what? You're right." Dustin said, brandishing his walkie talkie from his backpack. "Eggos taste like crap compared to real waffles."

Steve stared at him as if to say, _Of course, you dumbass_.

"Completely disregarding this fact was a terribly detestable mistake on our part and I vow to correct this as--"

"Okay, okay. Sure, whatever." Steve waved his hand to silence him. "So, do you think the chief would let us take her out to the diner before it gets too late?"

"Wait, right now?" 

Steve raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Yeah, why not?"

Dustin beamed. "Just hold up for a sec, I'll let the whole party know."

"And have all of you nerds wreck a diner under my watch? Nope, not a chance."

Dustin looked at him, his eyes pleading. "Come on, man. This is monumental! Everyone should be present to witness this."

Steve sighed. "Alright, but on one condition."

"What?"

"You'll be the one to talk to the chief. Tell him it was your idea." Steve said to him.

"Sure thing." He held out his hand, his face dramatically solemn. "We've got ourselves a deal, Harrington."

Steve rolled his eyes but shook the kid's hand anyway.

 

 

...

 

 

The waitress placed their food on the table and left, but not without stealing a glance at Steve. He flashed her a kind smile and her eyes darted away from him right away, cheeks turning red.

Dustin was smirking at him by the time she was out of earshot. "You didn't even have to do anything." 

Steve couldn't help but laugh. "Shut up and eat." 

"You're paying for this right?" Max asked while stabbing her pancakes with a fork. 

"Yes, and you rugrats better remember that for the rest of your lives."

Mike was staring at Eleven who was staring at her waffles in front of her with a wide-eyed wonder that you'd expect from someone who just saw something much more extraordinary than a plate of waffles.

That made Steve feel sad all of a sudden.

"Go on, El. Eat up." he said to her. Her name's actually Jane but the kids still call her El. Steve thought it sounded better anyway so he went with it. 

The corners of her lips turned up in a small smile before diving right into it, eyes widening even more as she chewed her first ever bite of fresh waffles. Steve watched everyone look at El with huge smiles on their faces and realized that he had the same expression.

Dustin stood up and raised his fist to the air. "That was glorious." he said out loud. Everyone else expressed their agreement in their own different ways which resulted in an eruption of noise that filled the whole diner. No one else was inside the place so Steve just let them go crazy, a wide grin on his face. Will was laughing when Lucas accidentally spilled water all over his shirt and Steve realized that he never heard the kid laugh out loud before, which made him feel bad and happy at the same time.

"You kids are crazy." he said. It might not be obvious with his tone but he did mean it in the best way possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve ended up driving everyone back to the Wheelers' house, except for Will and Eleven. Will because he would probably end up going home pretty late if he stayed and he doesn't want his mom to worry, and El because Steve doesn't want the chief to murder him or anything close to that. 

He pulled over right in front Mike's house. Steve was quite sure Nancy was probably inside studying at this hour and he buried the pathetic feeling that came with that thought. 

Max and Lucas quickly got out of the car. Mike followed suit after smiling at El for a few seconds in what seemed like a wordless farewell. _God, these two are seriously... serious._

The last one out was Dustin. "Thanks a lot, buddy." he said. The other three heard him and paused to hastily express their gratitude before proceeding to run towards the door. 

"Adios!" Dustin exclamed and dashed away to catch up with the others. 

Steve looked behind him to check on the two kids that were left. "You okay back there?" 

Will smiled and gave him a thumbs up, but El was looking out the window to where Dustin stood, her eyebrows knitted together like she was thinking about something. 

Steve was about to ask if there's anything wrong when Will spoke up. "It means goodbye." he said. 

_Oh._

"Goodbye?" 

Will nodded. "Yeah, goodbye."

" _Adios_ ," Steve said, complete with his best accent and a wink. "It's spanish."

El frowned. "Spanish? What is that?"

 _Oh, crap_. Steve was probably the least qualified person to explain the existence of different languages to someone who was deprived of such which would require a run-through about geography. "It's um... " He glanced at Will, asking the little guy to help him out.

Will carefully explained some basic stuff to El while Steve drove to the Byers' house, but they were done before they even reached their destination. Steve was impressed at how well El processed all of that in a short amount of time, but he didn't really let that show. _You probably should, asshole._

"Ice cream, anyone?" Steve blurted out. 

Ice cream as a congrats for being inherently smart, maybe? _Yes, that's what this is._ Of course the two jumped in on the prospect of free ice cream and they made that obvious with the excited glint in their eyes. Steve took it as a yes.

"Uh, wait a minute." Steve said when they arrived at the ice cream shop. "Don't tell the others, okay?" 

"Friends don't lie," was El's comletely serious reply.

"Yeah, but I'll be broke by the end of the year if those little shits heard about this. They're fucking relentless." He should really stop swearing in front of the kids. "And besides, you won't have to lie if they won't ask."

El looked at Will. He shrugged at her and said, "Sounds good enough to me." 

"Great--"

"But a lie of omission is still a lie, Steve."

 _Oh, come on_. Steve couldn't be truly annoyed at Will though, whose face broke into a laughing smile at Steve's reaction.

"If they won't ask," El spoke up, catching both Steve and Will's attention like she used one of her mind tricks or something, "we won't tell. But--"

"But if they do ask, then my wallet's toast." 

That prompted Will to laugh and El to let out a soft giggle. The sight made him smile. "Alright, let's get some ice cream."

Perhaps ice cream and waffles weren't enough to make up for the shitshow these two kids went through, but he guessed nothing ever would. Still, Steve figured he could at least try to help out in his own stupid way. 

But judging by their smiling faces, maybe it wasn't that stupid after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts.


End file.
